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Bruno the Trashman
.]] in his trash can.]] in the Bruno costume.]] .]] Bruno the Trashman is a sanitation engineer on Sesame Street who acts as personal chauffeur to Oscar the Grouch. During the 1970s, the Sesame Street cast made live performances across the country, but there was no effective way to get Oscar to enter the stage. Caroll Spinney, inspired by a puppet character on The Gong Show, conceived of a full-body garbage man who could physically carry Oscar. Since his arms are usually just holding onto Oscar's trash can, Caroll Spinney was able to perform Oscar as well as Oscar's right hand while inside the Bruno costume. The trash can was connected to an opening in Bruno's stomach.Spinney, Caroll. The Wisdom of Big Bird; New York: Villard, 2003 pp. 63-64. Though generally Bruno's a silent character, 1 of the few times that Bruno spoke was in the song "Put It in the Trash Can", which he sang as part of a singing group, "Bruno & the Trashmen". He had a brief line at the end of Follow That Bird, saying "Sure, Boss!" when Oscar asked him to take a walk around the block. Similarly, when Oscar asks him a question in Here Come the Puppets!, Bruno gets out a "Well, uh..." before Oscar cuts him off & says that's enough. An invisible wire was connected from Bruno's mouth to somewhere inside the trash can. According to Caroll Spinney, Bruno's greatest moment was at the end of Follow That Bird "as he slowly walks into the sunset carrying Oscar". Spinney, Caroll. The Wisdom of Big Bird. New York: Villard, 2003, p 64.. Bruno has demonstrated skills at rollerskating while also carrying Oscar in his trash can, in both Come the Puppets! & Big Bird's Birthday or Let Me Eat Cake. In the latter, Bruno surprised both Oscar (to his disappointment) & the humans (to their amazement) at how good of a skater he was. After several years in storage, the puppet's foam eventually disintegrated.Gikow, Louise A. Sesame Street: A Celebration - 40 Years of Life on the Street; New York, NY: Black Dog & Leventhal, 2009, p. 48.. Spinney later remarked in a live appearance that rebuilding the puppet would have been prohibitively expensive, & so the character was retired.Sesame Street at 40: A Night of Celebration with the Legendary Cast, January 30th, 2009, Shea Center for the Performing Arts, William Paterson University, Wayne, NJ. Appearances TV/Movies/Specials *''Sesame Street'' **Episode 2495 (1988) **Episode 2595 (1989) **Episode 2746 (1991) **Episode 3023 (1993) **Episode 3055 (1993) *''Here Come the Puppets!'' (1980) *''Follow That Bird'' (1985) *''The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years'' (1986) *''Sesame Street, Special'' (1988) *''Big Bird's Birthday or Let Me Eat Cake'' (1991) Books *''1st Day of School'' (1982) *''Ernie's Neighborhood'' (1987) *''[[Oscar's Grouchy Sounds|'Oscars Grouchy Sounds]] (1990) *''[[From Trash to Treasure|From Trash to Treasure]]'' (1993) Design Team *Caroll Spinney (designer) Sources See also *'Bruno the Trashman' on the Puppet Wiki *'Bruno the Trashman' on the [http://oscarthegrouch.wikia.com/wiki/The_Oscar_the_Grouch_Wiki Oscar the Grouch Wiki] Bruno The Trashman Bruno The Trashman